Southside Vampires
by Nine1
Summary: Taichi, Yamato, and Daisuke are vampires living in the south side of town. Yamasuke, Taito, and Taisuke. Complete.
1. Southside Vampires

A/N: Couldn't get this out of my head. I just watched The Forsaken and felt the need to write a vampire fic. Anyways, this is Matt, Tai, and Daisuke, with a lil' appearance from Ken. They mention Takeru's name once. It has a little Yamasuke, Taito, and Taisuke. Dai kisses Ken once, does that count for Daiken? Oh well, just read it. Oh, and leave a review, please? 

Warnings: A teeny bit of cursing, mentions sex, and Daisuke getting a lil' horny. Um, yaoi. I think that's it. This is an AU, though that's probably obvious, since the boys aren't vampires in the show. Or are they? **creepy music**

Disclaimer: I don't own Matt, Tai, Daisuke, Ken, or Takeru. I do own Sirius, Rufus, Cyrus, and the unnamed guy from Fang. I don't own Digimon either, though it really isn't mentioned.

Southside Vampires

"Matt," the voice whispered in the dark room. The owner of the voice shook his sleeping friend's shoulders. "Matt, get up."

The blonde boy groaned and slowly turned his head to look at the spiky-haired redhead next to him on the bed. "What?" he asked groggily.

"The sun went down over an hour ago. It's time to get out of bed. I want to have some fun."

Matt groaned and turned back around. "Make Tai go with you."

"He already went out somewhere. Please, Matt, get out of bed."

Matt growled into his pillow and reluctantly sat up, running a hand through his hair. "I'm going to kill Tai for going out alone," he muttered as he slowly stood. "The dumbass never listens, though. No, has to have it his way."

He muttered to himself as he went into the bathroom to fix his hair. He glanced up into the mirror and grinned to himself, seeing nothing at all. He lifted his brush and began to brush his hair, imagining what he hoped he looked like. 

His redhead friend glanced at him from the doorway, grinning. "Why do you still do that?"

"Do what?" Matt asked, setting the brush down and running a hand through his hair again.

"Look into that mirror and pretend you can still see your reflection. Why do you bother brushing your hair? Even with it messy, you could get anyone into bed."

Matt grunted in response and slowly walked back into his room to pull a shirt on. As he felt around under the blankets on the floor he found what he was looking for and pulled a black shirt from under it. As he put the shirt over his arms and got ready to pull it over his head he felt his friend's arms sneak their way around his waist to his chest.

"Do you have to put a shirt on? You look so good without one," the voice purred at him.

"Daisuke, stop it," Matt replied, removing the hands from his chest and pulling his shirt on all the way. 

Daisuke growled at him before turning and stalking off towards the door. "Hurry up."

Matt rolled his eyes and followed him to the door, slipping his feet into his combat boots on the way out. He grabbed his coat from the coat hanger in the hallway and slipped it on, the long black leather sweeping over the floor around his feet. "Ready."

Daisuke turned and opened the door, stepping outside and walking down the stairs two at a time. Matt closed the door behind him and leapt off of the stairs, landing as smoothly as a cat and walking like one also. He quickened his pace slightly to walk beside Daisuke and shoved his hands into his pocket. Daisuke glanced towards him, fingering his black dog collar and grinning, exposing the tips of white, pearly fangs. 

"You're so sexy, Matt."

"Daisuke, shut up. I'm not in the mood."

"And so vicious. I wish I could tear you up right now." Daisuke slid his tongue out of his mouth and waggled it at Matt, ducking under his punch.

He laughed and held his stomach. "Calm down, Matt. What's with you, anyways? You know I like to tease you, but you never usually get so worked up about it." His expression turned serious. "What is it?"

Matt looked away from him, not wanting to look into those dead eyes. Those eyes were all he saw in everyone around him. Dead, lifeless, uncaring. So unlike the eyes he used to look into, a long time ago.

"I'm just pissed that Tai left the house without telling anyone. He knows better than to wander the streets alone. He could get jumped."

"Aw, Tai could hold out against most of the vampires around here. There isn't too many that reach our level, you know. That's why we moved out here, to get away from all those other strong ones back in the old neighborhood."

"I know, but just in case."

Daisuke smiled slightly and looked forward towards the lights of the city they were approaching. "You care about him a lot, don't you?"

Matt caught the tinge of jealousy in his voice and looked towards him. "Oh come on, Dai. You know as well as I do that if you were the one out alone without me and Tai I'd be just as worried about you and bitching to Tai about it."

Daisuke looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, I know."

They finally reached the downtown part of the city, where the lights were brighter to their kind and much dimmer to the normal humans. This part of town was reserved for the vampires that lived around where they did. Sometimes a vampire from a rival clan wandered in and it was up to the highest vampires there to get rid of them. If a human found his or her way down there, they'd be killed on sight. That was just the way it was.

They walked towards the local vampire club and slipped inside, immediately surrounded by thumping music and pale, beautiful people. There were a few that looked more colored than the ones around them, and those were usually surrounded by vampires, all taking turns playing with them. Those were usually drunk humans. Sure enough, in a few seconds they could hear screaming and a struggle, and Matt glanced towards the back where one body was covered with three others, who were trying to hold the frightened girl in place as they drained her.

"Hey, look, there's Tai," he heard Daisuke say, and his eyes shot forward towards where he was pointing, towards a corner of the room. Tai had himself surrounded by vampire females, and he was casually licking the blood from an older looking woman's neck. 

Matt grumbled and stalked towards him. A few of the other vampires got out of his and Daisuke's way, recognizing them from other visits. He stopped in front of the table.

"Tai, I can't believe you," he growled, his fists clenching.

Tai looked up from the giggling girl and carefully eyed the angry blonde. He looked towards the girls and grinned, saying, "Excuse me."

He slid out of the booth and walked up to Matt, looking him in the eye and smiling. "Can't believe me how, Yamato?" he asked, walking past him and slipping his arms around Daisuke's waist.

Daisuke grinned and began kissing him, while Tai brought one hand under Daisuke's shirt and began feeling up his back.

Matt yanked him away and Daisuke groaned in protest. He spun Tai around and glared at him, head bowed and eyes narrowed, looking up through locks of his hair. "Don't ever, ever do that again, Tai. I mean it. I was worried sick about you."

Tai grinned lopsidedly and looked around the club. "Do what, Matt?"

"Go off on your own like that. If you ever want to go anywhere, just ask Daisuke or me and we'll happily go along with you, okay? Daisuke wanted to go out, anyways."

"And you? Would you just stay home and wait around for us?"

"I was sleeping. Happily sleeping. I wanted to continue sleeping, but I heard you were out and I had to come and find you to make sure you hadn't been killed or anything."

"Well, I'm sorry, then. I won't go out alone again, okay? Can I go have fun now?"

Matt narrowed his eyes even further, and Daisuke had to look away to avoid seeing the fury and anger inside of them. Tai bravely continued to look into Matt's eyes, having dealt with seeing him like this far more than Daisuke. Daisuke usually obeyed Matt, being somewhat afraid of the boy, but Tai absolutely hated to be told what to do and enjoyed making the blonde angry.

"Don't try to be a badass, Taichi. If I catch you sneaking out alone..."

"You'll what?" Tai sneered.

"You'll see. You'll see if you do it again."

Tai backed away, tilted his head down and grinning even wider. "I can't wait, Matt."

He turned and began walking through the club, quickly getting lost in the crowd. Matt turned to look at Daisuke, who instantly looked down at the floor. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He reached an arm out to Daisuke and beckoned him to come near. Daisuke hesitantly stepped forward and let Matt put his arm around him. "I'm just a little cranky, that's all. Let's go have some fun, okay?" Matt smiled at the boy and he relaxed.

They made their way towards the bar. The bartender, a fairly newly turned vampire named Ken, walked over to them as they sat down. He knew them because he was living with Takeru, Matt's younger brother. "Hey Matt, hey Daisuke," he greeted, cleaning a glass and flashing them a grin. He winked at Daisuke and Daisuke leaned forward over the bar table, grabbing Ken's shirt and pulling him forward for a kiss. Ken kissed him back and then pulled back.

"That isn't buying you a free drink, Daisuke," Ken warned him.

"Of course not," the redhead replied smoothly, smiling. 

Matt watched the exchange in mild amusement. He slowly reached into the pocket of his coat and brought out a wad of bills. He threw them towards Ken and muttered, "Get us two glasses. And you better assure us free refills, Ken."

Money didn't really mean anything to vampires, but it wasn't a secret that Ken loved collecting comic books. It was the one thing from the human world that he loved, so he gladly accepted any money he made as the bartender of that club. Any vampire could get a load of money, since it was so easy to take money from humans they drained. 

Ken snatched the money from the table and stuffed it into his pocket, quickly grabbing two glasses and filling them with a dark red liquid. He slid them over to the pair and they took their respective drinks and took sips, looking around the club.

Taichi was no longer anywhere in sight. He had probably disappeared into a back room with a few of the girls he was with, and was no doubt having a bit of fun with them. Suddenly, a song that Matt liked came out and Matt turned to Daisuke. "Care to dance?"

Daisuke shrugged a shoulder and nodded. "Sure."

He took Matt's hand and let the blonde lead him out onto the dance floor, watching as Matt spun around to face him and carefully following Matt's lead. He watched Matt's body move in a very catlike manner and licked his lips, moving in closer so he could feel Matt's body against his as they danced. Matt smiled and put his arms loosely around Daisuke's waist. 

They moved together in a fast, sensuous dance, grinding against each other's bodies. Matt closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side as Daisuke leaned forward to lick at his neck. He felt Daisuke begin to nibble on it and growled when Daisuke slid his fangs into the soft skin. He placed a hand at the back of Daisuke's head and opened his eyes slightly, his vision becoming redder and more blurred at the edges. He let Daisuke drink from him a while longer until it became too blurry and he pushed him away before he could lose control. Daisuke breathed heavy and licked the blood from his lips and teeth.

Matt carefully reached up to tilt the redhead's neck to the side. Daisuke's flesh was much paler now that he was a vampire, though not as deathly white as Matt's own skin. He gently began sucking at a bite he created in his neck and heard Daisuke moan his name as he pulled him closer. He gripped one of Daisuke's wrists and stroked it, feeling his veins throbbing just beneath his skin. 

  
He felt Daisuke push him away and reached up to wipe his mouth off, licking his hand and eyeing Daisuke as he wiped at his own neck and felt the wound closing up and healing. He wiped the blood off and licked his hand again. He grabbed Daisuke's wrist and pulled him off of the dance floor.

"Come on," he yelled over the noise of the music. "Let's go find us some more action."

~ ~ ~ ~

An hour later, Matt found himself pulling his shirt back on after a long lovemaking session with Daisuke, another vampire boy, and a pretty young vampire girl that they had found at the bar. Daisuke leaned against the door, arms folded and foot back against the wood. He watched as Yamato stood up, pulling his coat back on. The vampire boy walked to the door and turned to give Daisuke a long parting kiss. The girl had left minutes before. 

Daisuke turned to watch the young white-haired boy weaving his way back through the crowd and glanced towards Matt again. Matt walked towards him and grinned, his eyes glinting. Daisuke grinned back and turned to walk out the door, Matt close behind. He shut the door and turned to him. 

"So Matt, how do you rate those two?"

"The boy was great, but the girl wasn't turning me on as much. I'd rate the boy a seven, and the girl a four."

"Oh, gosh, I simply loved the boy. I'd give him a nine. The girl was obviously inexperienced. She couldn't even give a proper blowjob."

Matt's eyes went slightly wide, as if to say, "Don't remind me."

Daisuke laughed. "Anyways, she gets a three from me. And how do I rate, my dear?"

Yamato slid his arm around the boy's rate. He kissed him and smiled. "You, love, receive a ten. After all, you're used to sleeping with me, so you know exactly how to handle me."

"Ah, of course," Daisuke smirked, "I know how to tame the wild beast."

"Oh, go on," Matt replied, smirking back.

They suddenly stopped in their tracks, looking up at Tai, who had walked up to them.

"Where have you two been?" he asked, hands on his hips.

"Getting us a little action. You weren't around to enjoy it, though, too bad. We could have used you in there."

"I was looking for you two," Taichi snarled at Yamato, and the blonde boy held his hands up as if in defense.

"Hey, sorry. We thought you were doing your own thing."

"I got into a fight."

Daisuke's eyes widened and he instantly glanced over Taichi's shoulder, as if awaiting a vampire to sneak up and attack them. Yamato rubbed the side of his head and his eyes. 

"Who was it this time?"

"It was one of those jerks from the north part of the city. One of those damned Fangs."

Matt looked up at him, shocked. "Tai, please don't tell me you messed with a Fang."

"I just did, Matt. Look, don't worry, I beat him good and he went running back to his part of town."

"Tai, you should have walked away and reported him. One of the stronger vampires could have gotten rid of him."

"Well, I did the job for them."

"They aren't going to be very happy about this."

"Who? The Fangs or one of the higher of our clan?"

"Both of them! God, Tai, don't you ever think before you act? Wait, don't answer that." Matt raked a hand through his hair again. "Now they're going to be on our asses. Did he get a good look at you?"

"I was fighting him, Matt. Of course he did."

"Well, did he recognize you?"

"Obviously not, since he fought me. He was a lot weaker than I expected one of the Fangs to be."

"He must have been a new one. Let's go report him right now, and the elder vampires will take care of that business. Chances are they won't find out it was you and if they send more over here for revenge, the elders will be ready for them."

"Why can't we just go home and forget about this?"

  
"Because they *will* attack us again, you know they will. They jump at the chance for any sort of revenge. That's why they go looking for trouble, Tai."

Tai sighed. "Alright, alright, let's go report him."

Matt walked past him, muttering, "What was a Fang doing way down here in the Southside part of town, anyway?"

Tai grumbled to himself as he followed Matt and a shaken-looking Daisuke out of the building. They walked on down the streets, keeping close and watching out for themselves. They went to the center of their part of the city and reached a large building that no normal human would think twice about. They walked towards the place, passing by a few young looking vampires sitting outside and throwing rocks against trash cans, setting cats on fire, and leering at the three boys. 

Matt and Tai easily ignored them, but Daisuke glanced up once at a boy with shockingly red, messy hair, with one blue eye and one green. The kid hissed at him so he looked forward again and stepped into the building. 

He doubled his steps to catch up to the other two and followed them all the way to what looked like an old office. Matt knocked on the door and waited until he heard a voice from inside ask, "Who is it?"

"It's Matt, Tai, and Daisuke," he called through the door.

He heard a little bit of moving around from inside and heard the voice call, "Come in!"

He opened the door and slowly peeked into the room, his eyes falling on the raven-haired vampire sitting in the seat behind the old, rotting desk. The vampire waved them in and they entered, one after the other, and Tai and Matt took seats while Daisuke sat by Matt's feet on the floor.

"What did you boys do this time?" the vampire asked tiredly.

Matt shot Tai a look and Tai sighed, looking forward. "I ran into a Fang just outside Ken's club. We got into a little fight and he ran off."

The man in the chair leaned forward and sighed loudly, rubbing his temples. He looked at Matt. "Aren't you the eldest?"

Matt nodded slowly.

"Can't you keep him under control?" he asked, exasperated.

Matt smiled slightly. "I try. He snuck out earlier than I awoke today, and I was pissed at him so I didn't watch him while I was at the club."

"Well watch him better from now on, alright? I thought I told you that the last time you brought him in with a problem. And the time before that, and the time before that. Do I have to continue?"

Matt shook his head. "No, sir."

"I'll see what I can do about the Fangs. You boys can go now, and don't worry, all will be taken care of, as usual, whenever you three get into trouble. Or at least one of you," he added dryly, eyeing Tai, who defiantly looked back at him, eyes narrowed.

"Thank you, sir," Matt answered, bowing his head, and he stood and began walking towards the door. Daisuke immediately stood and followed him out, and eventually Tai rose from his seat and broke his piercing gaze with the elder vampire to turn and walk out. After they exited, the elder vampire called another vampire into his office.

The other vampire leaned against the doorway, smiling slightly. "Yes, Sirius?"

Sirius rubbed his temples again and gestured for the other vampire to sit. He slowly crossed the room and sat in a chair, facing the other and grinning. "The boys giving you a hard time again?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Do you remember when we used to go around getting into trouble like them?"

"How could I forget? Those were memorable years. Ah, but a hundred more years passed, and soon we became what we are now. The elder vampires taking care of our wonderful part of the city."

"Do you think they will be good after we go?"

"Matt will be excellent in taking my place, I'm sure. Tai will be the best at 'taking out the trash', as Rufus calls it. Rufus loves his job at getting rid of invading enemies, especially the Fang clan. And dear Daisuke will be taking your place, running errands for Matt and helping in his decisions about what to do about the problems in our part of the city, the way you help me, Cyrus."

"I never did like being the leader in anything. I very much like following you. And Rufus is his own boss, which is just what Tai needs, I'm sure."

Sirius smiled gently at Cyrus and looked out the window. "It won't be too long now. We'll be voted out in the election, and we'll have to make sure those three get the jobs."

The door swung open again and Rufus poked his head in irritably. "What do you want, Sirius?"

"There was a Fang intruding in our territory. I'm sure you'll enjoy taking care of that, Rufus?"

Rufus grinned and slammed the door shut, his figure moving from behind the door and to his own office, probably to shove guns and knives into his pockets.

Sirius sighed. "I do pity Matt, having to live with those two now. Not that I hated living with you two before, but I quite like having my own house all to my own. No one to dig up my garden or accidentally burn my clothes while ironing."

"So I was horrible with an iron," Cyrus calmly dismissed the remark, waving his hand. "Doesn't say anything about me."

Sirius laughed and rolled his eyes. 

~ ~ ~ ~

Matt shuffled his feet as he went into his bedroom and collapsed onto his bed. There was two hours left before sunrise, and he wanted to sleep for a long, long time. He curled his body around his blankets and sighed to himself, nuzzling his pillow and taking a deep breath. He was just about to nod off when he heard a bang and what sounded like a cat howling.

"Matt!" he heard Daisuke yell. "Tai tried to fry the cat in the oven again and it's a mess!"

Matt groaned and cracked an eye open. He slowly slid out of bed and fell onto the floor, rolling to his feet and dragging himself out of his bedroom to the kitchen.

"Starting next month," he muttered to himself, "I'm going to move out and go live with Ken and Takeru or something."

He peered into the kitchen, where Daisuke was chasing Taichi around and around the table. He leaned against the doorway and smiled to himself as he watched Daisuke leap over the top of the table and Taichi fly back, laughing and sneering at the poor boy. Daisuke landed on his head on the other side and Tai scrambled out of his reach. Daisuke slowly stood and rubbed his head, moaning in pain. Tai walked over to the young boy and gently touched the bump on his head as he kissed the boy's cheek.

"Sorry, Dai," he apologized, ruffling his hair gently. "Didn't mean to make you fall."

"Yes you did," Daisuke mumbled mournfully, and Tai merely grinned.

"Or maybe I should stay with them," he said under his breath, to himself, smiling. "I think they need me around here to keep things in order."

He slowly began walking towards them and enveloped them both in a hug. He kissed them both square on the lips, said, "I love you guys," and walked on towards the TV, plopping down on a couch and turning it on.

Daisuke and Tai stared after him, bewildered.

"He's high again, he's got to be," Tai said, raising an eyebrow, and Daisuke continued to rub the bump on his head and mumble that the world was against him somehow.

Matt watched the TV and smiled gently to himself. "Yeah, I'm definitely staying around, at least for another couple hundred years. They seriously need me. And I mean *seriously*."

~ ~ ~ ~  


A/N: Well, there it is. I don't know if I want to continue this or not. I could easily leave it to be a one-shot...what do you all think? I won't continue this if you guys don't review and ask me to. All you have to do is ask, you know. Anyways, just wanted to write a vampire fic. It's three in the morning now, so I'm going to bed. 'Night!


	2. Visiting Mental Institutions

A/N: Here's the second chapter of Southside Vampires. I hope you all enjoy it as much as you enjoyed the first chapter. Now we introduce Koushirou into the story, and we learn about him and how he is tied to Matt, Tai, and Dai. 

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any of the characters except for Sirius, Rufus, and Cyrus. 

Visiting Mental Institutions

Matt awoke from a wonderful, deep sleep and sighed happily. He turned his head to look at the other body in his bed and wondered to himself when he had gotten there. He sat up in bed and looked at the other boy on the floor, curled up and hugging a pillow. He left Tai on the bed and stepped over Daisuke to go to the bathroom, shuffling his feet and yawning.

He took a quick shower and then combed his hair, staring at the blank mirror, and then went back into his room to find Tai sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Matt smiled at him and Tai smiled back. Daisuke stirred on the floor and groaned, curling into himself and slowly getting onto his knees. He rose to his feet and let the blanket fall off of him and onto the floor, stretching his arms out to the ceiling. 

"What're we doing tonight?" he asked, leaning against the wall and trying to pull his pants on. 

"Let's go visit Koushirou," Matt suggested, his blue eyes shimmering when he turned the light on.

Tai rolled out of bed and landed on his feet, standing up and moving towards the closet. When they were all dressed and ready, they began walking towards Claymoore. Claymoore was the local mental hospital.

They walked in and went to the front desk. The nurse there smiled at them. "Here to see Koushirou again?" she asked.

"Yeah," Matt responded. "Is he in his room?"

The nurse nodded and told them to go right ahead. They walked down the hall, passing by a few patients that looked at them warily and moved towards the walls to give them plenty of space to walk. Tai turned to leer at one of them and he gave this sort of yelping sound and slid down the wall. 

Matt turned to get after Tai and then turned around again to open Koushirou's door. They stepped in one-by-one and closed the door behind them. Koushirou was sitting up in bed and staring forward with blank black eyes, his lips parted slightly. Matt sat on the edge of his bed and looked at him closely. He could barely hear the sound of Koushirou breathing through his mouth. 

"Kou?" he asked gently.

The redheaded boy slowly turned to look at him and the corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "Matt."

"Yeah. Tai and Daisuke are here, too."

Koushirou turned his head slightly and looked at the other two out of the corner of his eye. "Hey," he whispered.

They whispered back greetings and Daisuke took Koushirou's hand into his own. "How have you been doing?" Dai asked carefully.

"Fine," Koushirou responded, giving the same answer that he gave every time they came to visit him, regardless of what had really been happening in his life at the ward.

"How is your arm?" Matt asked, looking down briefly at the arm on his side. 

Koushirou slowly turned it upwards to allow them to see it and he gave a very small smile again. "It's still healing. It looks better than the last time you came, I think."

"Yeah, it does," Tai answered him, gently running a finger down his other arm because Kou refused to let anyone touch the arm that was damaged.

The reason Koushirou was in the mental institution was because one night he had been reading too many darkfics on the internet and was in a very dark mood. He read one where the main character sliced his arm open and pulled apart his own flesh and muscle until he could reach into the wound and touch his own bone, because the character had always wanted to see what a bone looks like when it's still inside of a person. For reasons unknown to even Kou himself, he suddenly wanted to try it, and he found a knife in the kitchen and began cutting into his arm. He had torn apart a piece of his arm and made it through the flesh and slightly past the muscle when he collapsed from the pain and bleeding. His mother found him right afterwards, having followed his painful screaming, and reacted quickly, calling an ambulance and closing the wound as best as she could as she tried the pressure point technique. 

They found out later on that Koushirou had been insane even before this, but he had kept it all inside of his mind and had blocked out everyone and everything so often that no one ever saw him often enough to realize that he wasn't right in his mind. Not even his parents saw him come out of his room very often. Matt, Tai, and Daisuke had hung out with him sometimes, but they were so messed up themselves that they didn't see anything odd in Koushirou's behavior. 

Koushirou looked at Tai and smiled slightly. "Thanks for coming to visit me so often, you guys. You know, no one else does."

"Your parents must visit you," Daisuke said reasonably.

Koushirou shook his head slowly and they all looked at him in concern. "No, they don't. They're scared of me. They're scared that I might do something else, so they don't want to hear about me anymore," he said softly. "They don't even want to know if I'm still alive or not." 

"I'm sure that's not true," Matt said, stroking Koushirou's hair and feeling a deep anger at Kou's parents. 

Koushirou glanced at the blonde and smiled again, this time looking a lot less forced. "Yeah it is. They told the nurses themselves, when they left me here. I heard them, because I was sitting in a chair in the room. They didn't look at me once and acted like I wasn't in the room, but I was there. So you see, I know that they said it. But it's okay," he added quickly, seeing the sorrow and anger in all three pairs of eyes, "I know it's true. Why would they still want me as their son, after everything I did?"

Matt leaned over and hugged the boy, who didn't make a move to hug him back, and merely sat there stiffly and stared forward, as if he wasn't even aware of the display of affection.

"After everything you did, all of us still want to be your friends, and all of us still care about you just as much as before, and maybe even more," Matt assured him.

He pulled back from the hug and looked into Koushirou's bleak eyes. The boy's eyes still wore their dead expression, but he thought he saw them shine a little, as if he was holding back tears. 

"Thanks," he said again, and looked down at the blanket.

Just then the nurse opened the door. "Your time is up. You have to leave now. He needs some rest. It is eleven, you know," she said.

Matt turned to look over his shoulder at the nurse in the doorway. She wasn't the nice nurse that worked at the front desk. This one was the nurse that disapproved of their night visits and thought that they woke up the patients whenever they came. She probably knew about how they frightened a lot of the patients there, just by being there.

"We'll be right out," he assured her coldly. He stayed looking at her for a while as she remained standing there, watching them. "Can you please shut the fucking door? I said we'll be right out. Can't we say goodbye?"

The nurse glared at him, but she went out and shut the door behind her anyways. "Bitch," he heard Daisuke mutter, and turned to look at Koushirou again.

"I feel sorry for you, having to be in here and take crap from people like her," Matt told him truthfully. Koushirou smiled again. Matt leaned forward and hugged him, kissing the side of his head. "Stay out of trouble," he said, and stood up.

Tai kissed the other side of his head, saying goodbye, and Daisuke threw his arms around the boy and nuzzled his shoulder. Daisuke kissed his forehead gently and pulled back to smile at him. "We'll see you around, Kou," he said, and stood up to follow the other two out of the room.

Matt glanced back into the room while he was closing the door behind him, and he thought he saw a tear sliding down Koushirou's cheek as he stared forward again. He closed the door fully and turned to walk forward out of the psych ward. He passed the disapproving nurse, who clucked her tongue at him, and growled at her, enjoying the way she jumped back a little at the noise, and then passed the nurse at the front desk, who waved at him, and he waved back. 

They went down the street, not really going anywhere but not wanting to stay in one place. Daisuke finally suggested they go visit Takeru, and they began walking towards his house in silence. 

~ ~ ~ ~

Takeru sat on his couch, his arms wrapped around Ken's waist. He was pleading with him to stay home with him instead of going to work at the club. 

"I told you, I can't," Ken said for what had to be the tenth time. "The club is my responsibility and I have to be there to work."

"Why can't you get somebody to fill in for you?" Takeru asked sweetly, stroking his boyfriend's stomach. Ken sighed and tilted his head to rest on the blonde's shoulder. 

"I need the money, Takeru. I still need about a thousand more to have enough for that number one issue of-"

"Blah blah, a comic book, yeah," Takeru cut in, always having been bored by any talk of comic books with Ken in the past. "Why are they so expensive?" 

"Humans think that they're collectible items that may be worth millions someday, and maybe a few already are," Ken explained, his voice sounding as if he had said this many times before, which he had.

"I still think you could take one night off to spend with me," Takeru said, pouting, and Ken laughed.

"You're too cute for words."

"So cute that I might convince you to stay home?"

Ken sighed and Takeru leaned forward and began kissing his neck. Ken didn't protest and tilted his head to the side, allowing his boyfriend more access. "I just want to go in to work, you know. They always give me a lot of money because they don't know how much it's worth..." he trailed off as he moaned slightly as Takeru began sucking on his collarbone.

"And...I just need the money. Uh, I might get a lot tonight, and then I'll have enough for the comic book, and I can spend more time with you then. Takeru, it's hard to think with you doing that."

Takeru grinned and began trailing his hands up and down Ken's body under his shirt. Ken squirmed slightly against the couch. "So anyways, as I was saying...uh...I was saying...ah, hell. I could get someone to fill in for me."

Ken grabbed Takeru's wrists and pinned them against the couch as he slid onto Takeru's waist and began kissing him back. Takeru made a sound of delight and opened his mouth as Ken's tongue licked at his upper lip.

Ken slowly dragged Takeru down the couch until he was laying on top of him and began to remove his shirt when the doorbell rang. Takeru cursed and gently pushed Ken off of him. "I'll get it."

Ken groaned in annoyance and tried to fix his shirt and his hair and Takeru walked to the door and slowly opened it. He saw who it was and pulled the door fully open, sighing. "Oh, it's you guys."

Tai grinned from his place leaning against the door, the ever-present almost predatory gleam in his eyes. "You sound so happy to see us, Takeru. Spare us the emotion."

Matt and Daisuke stood a little behind him, Matt with his arms crossed and his hair in his face and Daisuke with his arms around Matt's waist and smiling brightly.

"Can we come in or are we going to stand out here all night?" Tai asked impatiently.

Takeru moved to the side and sighed, lifting his arm slightly. "Yeah, come in."

Tai moved past him into the house and grinned at Ken, moving towards the couch. "Hello there, Kenny-boy."

Ken rolled his eyes at him. Matt and Daisuke plopped down on the other couch and Daisuke crawled onto Matt's lap, setting himself there and leaning back against the blonde's chest. Matt rested a hand on Daisuke's knee and curled one arm around his back. Tai leapt over the back of the couch and landed next to them, pulling his legs up onto the couch and settling back against a pillow. Takeru slowly went back to his place on the other couch and sat beside Ken.

"Did we interrupt something?" Matt asked, smirking.

Takeru raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"Your hair is awfully messy, dear brother."

Takeru muttered, "Shit," and tried to comb his hair with his fingers. Ken narrowed his eyes at Matt and Matt laughed. 

"I couldn't help it," he said, shrugging.

"Why are you here?" Ken asked, showing that he didn't appreciate them interrupting his and Takeru's night together.

"We came to inform you that Koushirou is doing good, and we managed to get a little emotion out of him today, so he might be getting a little better," Matt said, in a tone of voice not unlike Ken's.

Ken's eyes softened and his looked down, as if apologizing. Matt sighed and rubbed his head. Takeru smiled at the good news. "What do you mean 'emotion'?"

"Well, as we were leaving, I glanced back at him and saw a tear on his face," Matt said, smiling at Ken to show that he accepted the apology. Ken smiled back.

"Koushirou hasn't cried in ten years," Takeru said in amazement. 

"Not since he lost that puppy of his. He was seven years old then," Tai said, smiling as if in memory.

They had been vampires for nearly ninety years, but they appeared as young as teenagers. Tai was turned into a vampire at age seventeen, so he looked that age, and Daisuke had been fifteen. Ken appeared to be around fifteen, also. Matt and TK were full vampires, having both their mother and their father as vampires. Their parents had been killed by a rival clan twenty years ago, but they had stopped aging when Matt was seventeen and TK was fourteen.

Koushirou was a normal boy. He had no vampire blood in him, and though they asked him if he would like to become one, he had refused, saying he didn't care to live for as long as they already had. He honestly didn't mind them being vampires, and he was the only human they ever treated with respect and even liked. 

"We ought to go visit him tonight," Ken said to TK, and the blonde nodded at him. 

"Well, we should be going, too," Matt said, standing up. Tai and Daisuke slowly rose to their feet on either side of him.

Ken and TK stood to walk with them to the door. Tai hugged Ken and kissed TK, then walked out the door. Daisuke kissed both Ken and TK on the lips before bounding out the door, skipping the step and landing just behind Tai. Matt rolled his eyes at them both, hugged Ken and TK, and followed them out, closing the door behind him. 

He shoved his hands into his pockets and stared at the night sky. Tai went off into the darkness for awhile, and Matt and Daisuke followed him at a much slower pace, enjoying the sweet night air. 

"What do you think is going to happen to him?" Daisuke asked quietly, almost afraid to ruin the moment.

Matt glanced at him, knowing what he was talking about without having to ask. "I don't know. Maybe he really is getting better. Maybe it's good that he cried."

"Or maybe he's just getting sadder," Daisuke whispered, and Matt cringed.

He had been thinking that same thing, but he didn't want to say it out loud. Suddenly, Tai came running back to them, with something in his hand. Matt raised an eyebrow at him, then hissed when he watched as Tai lifted a bottle of some kind of alcoholic drink to his lips. 

"Where did you get that?" he asked angrily. 

Tai smirked at him. "I stole it from a drunk."

"Before or after you killed him?"

Tai made a face of mock disgust. "Shut up, Matt. I don't kill, you know that. He was passed out already. No harm done."

Daisuke eagerly reached towards Tai and the brunette handed the bottle over. Matt glared at Dai as he too took a swig and then grinned to himself as he passed it back to Tai. He caught Matt's eye and flinched.

"What?"

Matt shook his head at them and walked on ahead of them. 

"What?" Dai called again after him.

Tai slipped an arm around his shoulders, whispering something to him, and the smaller boy giggled. Tai led him down the street in the opposite direction of where Matt was walking. Matt continued on, grumbling about them revealing themselves and getting killed one day. 

When he finally looked up from where he was walking, he realized he was at the elder vampires' place. He wondered briefly if they would mind him dropping by, but then his stomach rumbled and he rested his hand over it thoughtfully. It had been awhile since he had fed last. He made his decision and went up to the steps of the building.

The same red-haired kid with one blue eye and one green from before hissed at him, so he turned and looked the boy right in the eye and hissed back, as fiercely as he could. He smiled to himself when the boy backed off, his eyes narrowing in suspicion, and continued on into the building.

He passed an office and gently tapped on the door of the second office, waiting a while before he heard Sirius call his usual, "Come in."

He slowly stepped into the room and smiled slightly at Sirius, who was writing something on some papers. Sirius glanced up and smiled at him.

"Hello, Matt. More trouble? I surely hope not. Today's been a good day. Cyrus only dropped the coffee once, and it was on Rufus, not on me, and the plants are actually showing signs of living."

Matt laughed a little and shifted from one foot to the other. Sirius stopped smiling and looked him over carefully. "Is there something wrong? Would you like to sit down?"

Matt dropped the fake smile and sighed, plopping down on a chair and running a hand through his hair. "They're getting even more wild. I don't know how much longer I can put up with them. Right now they're off somewhere drinking, and I'm beginning to think they're forgetting the acts of respect they've shown me in the past."

Sirius nodded slowly. "You want to do a renewal of the acknowledging of your being leader."

Matt took a second to decide that was a statement, not a question, and he nodded. Sirius lowered his pen and folded his arms on top of his desk, leaning towards Matt a bit. "Do you really think this is necessary?"

Matt looked him in the eye. "I saw a feral gleam in Tai's eye tonight. I haven't seen that gleam in eighty years, and I can tell you, it's the same as before. I don't want Tai to turn wild again. You remember what happened last time."

Sirius sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "If you're sure about this, then I can arrange a ceremony, no problem. I will make sure that Rufus and Cyrus attend, and I will surely be there, and maybe I can get some more higher vampires to watch, but I'm not making any promises."

Matt nodded gratefully. "That's more than enough."

He reached over Sirius's desk and shook the elder's hand, then stood from his seat and stayed obediently still. He waited until Sirius could tell him he could leave before moving out of his spot and towards the door. 

As he reached the door, Sirius called his name, and he turned to look at him. Sirius smiled at him, folding his hands on the desk. 

"You do still want to be the leader, don't you?"

"Yes, I do."

Sirius nodded and waved his hand. "Well, go on. Go and find them, and report back here with them tomorrow. We'll take you to where the procession will be held. If they don't want to attend, tell me, and I'll send Rufus after them."

Matt nodded. "Thank you."

"No problemo," Sirius smirked, looking more like a teenage boy than a respected elder vampire.

Matt turned and walked out the door, closing it behind him. 

~ ~ ~ ~

A/N: Well, I've got that done. Good thing, too. It was getting on my nerves that I hadn't even started it. Anyways, now we have some questions to answer. What did Tai do eighty years ago that was so bad? What is this procession that Sirius and Matt were talking about? How will Tai and Dai respond to it? Find out in the next chapter. Review, please.


	3. Losing One

A/N: Here's a third chapter for all of you that like this story. This is the only story that I actually need to finish right now...er, except for my Takesuke project, but I haven't uploaded any of that one. I will when I'm done with this fic...anyways, hope you enjoy this. Oh, and don't panic over the end, everything'll be all right. Really. And I knowwww that it's short. It's supposed to be short. Sorry for the shortness.

Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon or...anything.

Losing One

"What do you mean a renewal of our loyalties?"

"I've requested to have it again, and Sirius says I can, so..."

"Forget it. I'm not going."

"If you don't go with me, then he's going to send Cyrus to...escort you."

Tai cringed. He knew that 'escort' meant Cyrus would chase him down and drag him to the procession, probably after beating him up some.

"Listen, Tai, I'm doing this for your own good. You've been getting a little wild lately-"

"What?! Wild? That's funny, Matt, really funny. I'm *always* wild, Matt. You've never had to go this far over it."

"This is different, Tai. This has only happened once before, eighty years ago. Do you remember what you did back then, Tai?"  


Tai looked away from him. He didn't want to remember that night, years ago. Daisuke was watching the exchange with growing uneasiness. He didn't want to go through with that whole procession again. The first time was hard enough. He had a scar on his back that would never, ever leave him.

In their vampire clan, whenever a group of three or more vampires wants to form a "pack" and live together, they have to establish a leader, and they do this by having a "procession" overviewed by at least two elder vampires. The three or more vampires all are pitted in a fight against each other, and whoever is the last one standing is the leader. Matt had won years before because Tai had yet to harden and become the vicious, cunning vampire he became. If the leader ever felt that one or more of the other vampires of the group is "forgetting" who the leader is, or becoming wild or feral again, he may choose to hold the procession again. However, this time, the fight is between the leader and everyone else. If the leader can catch and bring down all of the other vampires, then he remains leader. If he cannot, then he will continue trying until he does. 

No matter what, whoever goes into the fight as the leader *must* come out as the leader, and usually, while fighting, the other vampires won't dare to overtake their leader, but they all put up a good fight anyways, to show that they are strong. If one of them runs away, the leader has to chase them down and make them give up. 

Another important note would be the fact that all of the vampires present at the procession shift from vampire to wolf during the opening of the procession, when one of the elder vampires commands them to, and through the entire fight the vampire must remain in the wolf form. It is tradition that they use their wolf forms to fight against each other. 

The sign of submission, if a pack member does not want to fight their leader, or to show that they give up before they are knocked out or bloodied too badly, is to roll over onto their backs and show their bellies, and in a sign of true trust, expose their throats. 

Eighty years ago, they had to have a second procession, after only ten years of being a pack. Tai had become feral. Snarling, vicious, almost rabid, Tai had done something unforgivable. He had become overcome with the carnal lust for the kill that vampires get when exposed to raw, immense fear from a target. It gets them on a high. Sometimes, if the smell of fear is combined with the smell of blood, it can take control of a vampire's mind. Tai was messing around downtown, out of his territory, being the rebel of the group. He had run into a vampire of another clan, and they had gotten into a fight. Tai was able to bloody the other vampire, and the smell of the blood so close to him had driven him crazy. If human blood smelled delicious, then another vampire's blood was like ambrosia. Tai killed another vampire that night. It is one thing to slay a human, it is completely another to slay another of your own kind.

The elders found out, and they knew what the sentence for that sort of a crime was. Tai would have to receive the death punishment. It was an unforgivable crime. 

But Matt wouldn't allow any of it. 

When he heard what would become of Taichi, Matt went berserk. He was not going to allow anyone to lay a hand on his mate, regardless of what he did. Sirius, having been the leader of the elder vampires even back then, knew that it would be like suicide to allow Tai to be killed. Tai, whether they liked it or not, was going to have to run the clan alongside Matt and Daisuke one day, and if he died, then none of them would. Sirius allowed Matt to have a second procession a week later, and Tai was quick to turn his belly up. 

Sirius was not so sure about what would happen this time. It seemed as if, since Tai was a hell of a lot more independent, strong, and smart now, that he would know he had a good chance of running away, leaving the pack, and going off on his own to start his own pack and be his own leader. The question was: Did Tai still trust and love Matt? Would he allow himself to roll onto his back for him again?

Tai, Matt, and Daisuke reached the place where the procession would be held, slightly surprised to see that everyone was gathered there already. Matt instantly began walking a little ahead of Tai and Daisuke and Daisuke obediently dropped behind. Matt hoped that Tai would stay in his place and not embarrass him in front of all of these people by walking along ahead of him and mocking Matt's position as leader. Luckily for him, Tai truly did *not* want to be there, and he lagged far behind the other two.

As the three walked into the center of the procession, the other vampires gathered there in a circle bowed their heads slightly. The elders, lined up in front, stepped up, and the three boys stood in front of them. Sirius had gotten Rufus, Cyrus, Sora, and Ikarus to attend. Among the regular vampires gathered around, Matt saw Takeru and Ken, watching them intently. He returned his attention to Sirius, who had stepped up to them.

"As you all know, we are gathered here tonight to witness the *third* procession for this pack. A renewal of trust usually is not called for, and it is rare to have one more than once, but permission has been granted, as this is a special case." His soft eyes twinkled as he winked at Matt, and Matt found himself blushing. Sirius may have been old, but he still looked young, vibrant, and now, outlined in the moonlight, damn sexy.

Sirius turned to look at Sora, another elder vampire, and she nodded and stepped up also. Sirius stepped back in line and Sora walked in front of the three boys. They all eyed her, and she smirked at them. 

"You all know the rules. You've been through this before. It's time to pay our respects to the moon shining above."

At this, all of the vampires began to remove their clothes. Shirts, pants, underwear, and other items of clothing flew off into the grasses surrounding them. Once they all stood naked and gleaming in the moonshine, everyone present began to shift into four-legged, shimmering, beautiful wolfen creatures, falling forward onto all fours and wagging tails excitedly. All of the wolves present howled at the full, gorgeous moon. 

As soon as the howls ended, Sora leapt backwards out of the way and the fight began. Matt immediately turned on Daisuke and tackled him. Daisuke felt a moment of panic where he contemplated rolling over right away or putting up a fight before rolling over. This was a mistake, for it caused a hesitation in his movements and gave Matt time to strike. He swiped at Daisuke's muzzle and Dai howled, turning away, and Matt crashed into his side. Dai fell onto the floor and made sure to land on his stomach, not yet ready to give up, but he didn't dare attack his leader. He took a few more swipes along his back and thighs, and then sighed loudly, turning over and exposing his belly. Matt got off of him as he watched Dai tilt his head back, exposing his long, sleek throat of red fur, and his chocolate brown eyes shimmered in trust and a sort of apology for being too frightened to fight back and too proud to back down at once. Matt gave him a reassuring look and then spun around quickly, his eyes darting around to look for Tai. 

He turned to look at Sirius, as if he knew the elder vampire would know the answer, and the large, sleek, black wolf turned slightly saddened eyes towards the white wolf with gleaming blue eyes. He tilted his head towards the woods and the white wolf's, Matt's, eyes turned to follow the imaginary path. He immediately understood and his heart caught in his throat. Tai had run away from the fight.

He sprang past the huddle and sprinted through the woods, determined to find Tai. He tried not to feel betrayed by Tai's running from the fight. If Tai had felt the need to run without so much as *trying* to fight him, he must really want out of the pack. No, no, no! Matt thought, panicked. He wouldn't, not Tai. He ran through the woods until his leg muscles screamed at him to stop and rest. He ran until his eyes were dry from having unleashed all of the tears they could hold. He ran until his heart threatened to beat its way out of his rib cage, but he never found Tai. Howling in frustration, anger, and pure sorrow, Matt fell out of the wolf form and onto the floor, curled up and naked, feeling vulnerable, though comforted slightly by the moonshine bathing his tired, crying body.

When Matt felt he had gathered enough strength, physically and emotionally, he wandered back to the procession. There were no longer wolves gathered there, only vampires. Matt didn't want to see the pity in their eyes. He didn't want to be patted on the back in reassurance, didn't want to hear whispers about how they all knew Tai wouldn't want to give in that easily, that they knew Tai would run from him. He reached Daisuke, looked into his eyes, and then Daisuke knew the truth. Tai had run away from them. 

Matt caught Daisuke as he fell forward in a silent sob and held him for a while. He watched feet enter his field of vision and slowly looked up the body standing a few feet away. Sirius smiled gently.

"It happens," he said simply.

Matt looked away from him. He didn't care if "it happens." He just wanted Tai back. He just wanted to know why Tai had run away. He just wanted to be a pack again. He began to regret his decision to hold another procession, but then remembered that Tai was becoming wild anyways, and that Tai would have run away eventually. He held onto Daisuke as if his life depended on it as they trudged out of the woods the procession had been held in.

Takeru and Ken came over to offer words of comfort to them before they separated to go to their respective homes. Matt didn't feel as if he were going home, though. Home was where he could have his two loving mates laying beside him in his bed. It wasn't that he felt more for Tai than he did for Dai, it was just that he needed both of them there for him to feel complete. He felt as if a third of his soul was missing, and he knew that Dai felt the same way.

The two broken-hearted boys fell asleep curled up, clutching each other as if their lives depended on it, in a bed far too empty for comfort. They fell asleep to uneasy dreams that night.

~ ~ ~ ~

A/N: Ack! Tai's gone! O.o' Where'd that boy run off to? Really, nothing but trouble...eh? Oh, anyways. Aren't you glad I actually got off my lazy butt and posted this? Review, please, if you want to know what the hell Tai thinks he's doing. I want to know, too...


	4. Missing One

A/N: Here it is, and so soon! Wow! Yeah, I love you guys so much that I wrote it right away. Hmm. Hope you like it! Leave a nice little review at the end, and maybe I'll be motivated to get the next chapter out just as quickly? O.o' 

Disclaimer: Don't own Digimon or the characters.

Missing One

Matt stared at the ceiling and tried to make figures out of the dots dancing in his view. He had woken up to Dai's screaming. He'd immediately woken his troubled mate, and held the boy as he cried. Dai had only fallen back asleep a few minutes ago, his face sticky with sweat and tears, with Matt stroking his hair and back to soothe him. 

Matt hadn't had horrible nightmares the way the younger boy had. He couldn't have, anyway; he hadn't slept a wink since they'd fallen into bed. He listened to the redhead's breathing, felt it as it stirred his golden locks of hair. He remained that way, allowing his thoughts to travel far away from the room.

Why had Tai run away from him? From them? Where was he? Was he doing okay? If anything happened to him...if he wandered onto enemy territory...he didn't know what might happen. He was incredibly worried. Yeah, that was an understatement.

He felt like pacing the room, but he also felt that it was his duty to hold Daisuke as he slept. He didn't want the redhead to wake up to an empty bed, for that would surely only set him off sobbing again. Poor Daisuke. Matt looked at the boy's face. He was so beautiful. Beautiful and heart-broken.

He loved Tai so much. He usually flirted with Matt, hung off of Matt, tried to get Matt to pay more attention to him than to Tai, but Matt knew that Dai loved Tai deeply. Dai felt like Tai was his idol, his big brother, his bodyguard, but he also felt like Tai occupied a chunk of his heart, and he'd die before letting go. But where was Tai now? Wherever he was, he'd run off with that chunk of heart, and it was leaving Daisuke hurting badly.

Daisuke shifted on the bed and it broke Matt from his thoughts. He opened deep cinnamon eyes. 

The two stared at each other for a while, and then Daisuke whispered into the still air.

"He's going to come back, right?"

Matt couldn't bare to look away the way he wanted to. He smiled gently and trailed a finger down Daisuke's jaw line, smiling when the redhead's eyes fluttered and his wrapped his leg tighter around Matt's.

"He needs us, Dai-baby. He's got a third of each of our souls, but we've got two-thirds of his right here, in this bed. Whether he likes it or not, he loves us as much as we love him, but he's just too stubborn it admit it right now."

Daisuke smiled slowly, seeming satisfied with the answer. "Of course. Why didn't I think of that? Of course, you're right. You're always right...dear Matt..."

He trailed off, staring out the window. He watched the moon, and wondered to himself if Tai, wherever he was, was watching it, thinking of them, too.

~ ~ ~ ~  


"Where's Tai?"

That was the first thing out of his mouth. Of course it was. Seeing Matt and Daisuke there, sitting on his bed, looking as if they were fighting to keep fake smiles, and losing, he had to wonder where the hell the brunette was. It was so odd seeing the two without the third that he half expected it to start raining marshmallow chicks.

"Tai's gone," Matt whispered, brushing Koushirou's hair from his face. 

Koushirou waited for them to explain, knowing they would get around to it. Eventually, Matt swallowed and told him about the procession. Koushirou listened intently, looking back and forth from one to the other, studying the expressions on their faces as they told each part of the story. He watched the expressions change, and right at that moment, just for a split-second, Koushirou hated Tai for doing this to the two he was supposed to love and protect. 

The moment passed, and Koushirou's eyes took on sympathy. "It's hard to lose the one you love like that. It's hard to watch them walk away from you." For a second, he recalled the horrible, self-loathing feelings he got when he watched his parents talk to the doctor as if he wasn't even there, and then leave him in the office, without looking at him, without saying goodbye, nothing. It was as if he really had killed himself. Well, he really was dead. He was as dead to them as he could possibly get.

Koushirou let his mind wander back to the boys sitting miserably on his bed and staring at the sheets as if they expected them to show them a picture of where Tai was. 

"Thanks for coming and letting me know what happened. I really was anxious to know how the procession went. I guess I would have been better off not knowing, huh?"

Koushirou gave them both a weak smile, and they barely managed to return it.

"Hey, listen. Go out and get some ice cream, have a romantic dinner, dance under the stars, do something uplifting to get your minds off of what you lost and back onto what you have."

Matt and Daisuke looked at each other, and then at Koushirou, smiling slightly.

"You know, I think we'll do that. I haven't taken either of them out on a date for ages," Matt admitted. He gave Daisuke an apologetic look and Daisuke smiled at him and shook his head, as if to say it was okay.

As they stood to leave, Matt turned to Koushirou, smirking. "You know, it's really weird to hear someone that tried to rip the bone out of his arm tell me to do something uplifting and cheer up."

Koushirou knew that Matt was joking with him, and he smirked back. 

"What a smart mouth. No wonder he left you."

Matt and Koushirou shared a knowing look. They were even. Matt turned and walked out the door, joining Daisuke outside. They walked on down the hallway, and as they passed the nurse at the front desk, she called out to them. They approached her, and she gave them chocolate candies. They thanked her and left the hospital popping the candy into their mouths, and they headed for the club.

The atmosphere in the club changed entirely the second they walked in. People turned to stare at them, giving them sad looks, or just looking plain surprised. 

Matt looked around, raised an eyebrow, and laughed.

"Who died?"

The other vampires all looked away at that question. He was feeling better. The word had spread that Taichi had left Matt and Daisuke at the procession, and they were all expecting him to do something explosive at the club that night. Self-destruct, or just plain destruction. Either way, it would be fun to watch.

Matt knew what they thought. He knew they expected him to blow up. He smirked knowingly and walked to the bar, looking for Ken. Ken saw them and came over to them, sliding them drinks. 

"On the house," he called over the music.

Matt blew him a kiss, winked, and sipped at the drink. Daisuke grabbed Ken by the sides of his face, pulled him towards him, and planted a kiss right smack on the middle of his face. Ken pulled away again, rolling his eyes, and walked off. He never got a "thank you" from them. Kisses, hugs, slaps on the ass, blown kisses, and winks. That was what they did to express their gratitude.

Matt downed the drink as quickly as possible. He slammed the glass on the table and whirled around in his seat, looking over the crowd. For some strange reason, he felt like looking for Tai. That was stupid. Why would Tai come back here, where Matt would easily find him? Matt stood anyways and leant in towards Daisuke, yelling that he was going to check something out, and to stay there. Daisuke nodded, knowing better than to question Matt, and asked for another drink.

Matt walked through the club, looking around, searching for anything. He was feeling a strong sort of...what was it? A weird feeling. He felt like he was *needed* there at the club. He felt like he had something to find there, but he couldn't tell what. A person? A thing? He saw only strangers. Sure, he knew a few of them, had danced with them, had fucked them, but what were they to him? They were nothing to him. 

He searched the entire dance floor, found no one. Nothing. He began looking into different rooms. Nothing in any of those either. He found himself walking out the back door of the club. He stood outside, staring around, his eyes piercing through the dark, searching for something. For anything. His gaze fell upon a tall, lean vampire leaning back against the wall, staring at the ground, smoking a cigarette. 

He didn't recognize this vampire. He'd been going to the club forever, but he'd never, ever seen this man. He walked towards the vampire, leaned against the wall next to him, looked over his face. The vampire looked straight at him, raising an eyebrow. Suddenly, the vampire's eyes went wide, the color draining from his face, and he leapt backwards.

"Shit! It's you!"

Matt spread his feet upon the floor and felt his muscles tighten immediately. His teeth clenched without him telling them to. He eyed the other man.

"Who are you?"

"Aren't you the one that always hangs around with the brunette and the cute redhead?"

"Yeah...what's it to you?"  


Matt looked him over carefully, tilted his head slightly. He needed a different approach. He needed to find something out from this guy.

"I've never seen you here before."

"I never come here."

"You're not from around here, are you?"

The other vampire seemed to tense at that, and Matt felt a slight feeling of triumph. That was it. He wasn't from this part of town.

"You aren't a Fang...are you?"

The vampire turned and began to run, and Matt sprinted after him.

"Wait! I need to ask you something!"

Matt ran after him, gained speed, and jumped on him as soon as he saw the man's step falter. He lay on the man and slugged him twice, hard across the face, just to get the message across that more would come if he tried to get away. The man immediately lay still, showing that he didn't intend to go anywhere, but Matt remained on top of him, holding his fist up.

"Tell me what I need to know."

"Yeah, just ask me anything, I'll tell you, I'll tell you what I know."

"Stop rambling!"

The man shut up. Matt slid off slightly, but kept his fist up.

"Have you seen Tai anywhere?"

"Who's Tai? I don't know a Tai. Nope, never heard of-"

"The brunette. The brunette I hang out with. Have you seen him tonight?"

The man looked away. "I-No, I mean...not here."

"What do you mean not here?"

"I mean..."

"You mean not at the club? Then where? Where did you see him?"  


The man looked flustered. Matt knew that if he got the man any more worked up he wouldn't be able to get a straight answer for a while. He backed off, moving completely off of him and sitting next to him. 

"Where did you see Tai?" he asked, more gently.

"Your friend went onto our territory. We chased him out, but I think he went back. What was he doing over there? If you don't get him, someone might get angry and hurt him. Why did you let him go over there?"

"Tai is hanging around Fang territory?"

Matt felt his heart beating faster. What the hell was Tai getting himself into this time?

He leapt up and began running back towards the club as fast as he can. The man called out after him, screamed something, but Matt was too far away to hear. He reached the club and went in, searching frantically for Daisuke. He saw him dancing with a young white-haired boy and grabbed him, dragging him out of the club. Daisuke squealed in protest and tried to wrench himself free from Matt's grip, but he couldn't.

Matt let go after they got out of the club and Daisuke rubbed his wrist, groaning.

"What the hell was that for, Matt?"

"Tai's in the Northside."

Daisuke stared at him blankly, stopping where he stood. Matt glanced back, saw that he'd stopped, and walked back to grab him and pull him onwards. 

"Where are we going?" Daisuke asked, fear creeping into his voice.

"We're going to tell Sirius about this. We need to go get Tai out of there before he gets himself killed."

"They'll handle it well, won't they? Yes, they'll get Tai out of there in no time!"

  
"We're going, too. Well, I am. You can choose whether you want to go or not, but I suggest you stay. We need strong people over there."

"What?" Daisuke's voice squeaked. He cleared his throat and went on, "Matt, no. No, no, no, you can't go. You'll get hurt. I'm not letting you go after him-"

"You don't understand, Dai. I have to do this. I have to save Tai."

"No!" Daisuke screamed. Matt stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the boy, bewildered. 

"No, Matt, you don't understand!" the redhead screamed at him. "You don't even fucking *try* to understand!"

"Daisuke, what's wrong?" he asked softly.

Daisuke bit his lip, tears running down his cheeks, and looked at the floor. "Have you even considered how badly I'll feel if *both* of you are over there? Do you know how horrible, shitty, paranoid I'll feel? Have you considered my feelings at all, or is this all you? Is this you going to save your beloved, while you leave me to worry about you both and wonder if you even thought about how much Tai will love you for saving him? What about me, Matt? What about me? Will he be happy that I stayed home and didn't even bother going after him? You *know* I can't go, Matt. Sirius would never, ever, ever let me go on a mission like that. If I don't go and rescue Tai..." he looked away.

Matt suddenly felt like the scum of the earth. He hadn't even thought of how horrible he must be making Daisuke feel. He knew he was telling the truth. Sirius would say no way, no how, if Daisuke asked to go. He'd *make* Matt go, and Matt wouldn't dare stay behind anyways, and when they went off to save Tai, he would automatically be the good guy. Daisuke would be the invalid. Daisuke would be the one who was too weak to save the one he loved. Daisuke, whether Matt liked the idea or not, would be left out of the action yet again, because he wasn't as good in a fight, wasn't as brave or strong as Matt. Daisuke must feel like shit.

Matt put his arms around Daisuke and held him tightly, sighing into the redhead's hair. 

"I have to do this. I have to go and save Tai. I'm so, so sorry for not thinking of your feelings, Daisuke...but every minute we waste here is another minute Tai is a sitting duck, stuck in the hands of the enemy."

Daisuke knew this was true, and took a deep breath. "Right. I can't break down now, I have to be brave, have courage..." he smiled gently. "I have to wait for my two loves to return safe and sound to me."

And with that, they fled to the elder vampires' office building.

~ ~ ~ ~  


Sirius had told them to go back to the house and get some rest. They would go after Tai the first thing next sunset. Tai would be safe during the day. They had already established a safe house in the Northside part of the city. Someone would be waiting for them. They were going to leave at sunset, keep well hidden, reach the safe house, and then wait for the large clock in the center of the Northside to strike ten o' clock. When that happened, they would spread out and search the entire Northside looking for Tai. Tai would probably be in hiding, trying not to get caught and chased out again. Hardly any vampires ever wandered out of their homes until one, so they would probably reach the safe house around nine, spend an hour sorting out exactly who was going to search where, and all start searching at the same time, as soon as the clock rang out ten times.

It sounded like a good enough plan. Matt had agreed to go on the search, and Dai would stay at the office to watch over things while they were gone. Sirius, Rufus, Cyrus, Sora, Ikarus, Jyou, and Iori would all be going along with him. Matt was lucky to get all of the elders on this mission, but they knew that, as they had said before, losing Tai would be like suicide for the city's future.

Matt and Daisuke lay in bed, stroking each other, staring into each other's eyes. They both knew that there was a small chance that either Tai, Matt, or maybe even both or one of the elders, might not make it back home. The Fangs were more vicious than their clan, and if they thought there was going to be trouble, they didn't mind murdering, even if it was their own kind. To them, the laws changed in their part of the city. To them, murdering another of their own clan was bad, but murdering a vampire from another clan was perfectly normal. 

Matt breathed Daisuke's scent in deeply, memorizing the scent of him, the taste of his skin, the beautiful look on his flushed face when he moaned in pleasure. They made love that night, for the first night in quite a while in their own bed, gently, tenderly, and passionately. 

Daisuke cried when he reached his peak, and when they were laying curled up in each other, afterwards, Matt wiped his tears away and rested his head on top of his lover's head. 

"I will come back to you, with Tai, and then we're going to have a hell of a threesome."

Daisuke laughed gently, nuzzling Matt. "I'll be so utterly disappointed if we don't."

Soon, they fell asleep, exhausted from their previous activities and everything that had happened that day.

When sunset came, they would be ready, but for right now, they were content to lay in each others arms and memorize the breathing and warmth radiating from the body laying next to them. 

~ ~ ~ ~  


A/N: Aw, what a sweet scene. Hehehe...pretty. It's so weird, how different the scene in the very beginning with them lying is bed is compared to the very last one with them also lying in bed. I just noticed that. Hmm, oh well. We'll see how this rescue thing goes, eh? Oh, and how do you like how quickly I got this uploaded, eh? Yeah, I wanted to get something up early for a change. I, the queen of writing procrastination. Bleh. I hope you love me for this...anyways, review! 


	5. Finding One

A/N: Did I lose all but two of my reviewers for this story overnight? What happened?! Where did you all go?! O.o' Oh well, this is for Crysie and nEo-cHaN, and InvaderPadfoot, too. Thanks for staying with me, you guys! ^-^' And if you are reading this story, but not reviewing, please, please review? Just tell me how you think I'm doing, that's all I need.

Finding One

They arrived at the office at eight and began getting prepared to leave. Takeru and Ken arrived at eight-thirty. They would be aiding Daisuke in keeping the office running in the absence of Sirius, Remus, and Cyrus. Matt loaded a gun with bullets, snapped it shut, set it on the desk, and began getting another one ready.

"Matt."

He glanced up at Remus, who smiled and handed him a retractable knife. Matt pushed the button on the knife and the blade automatically popped out. Matt shut it again and slid it into his pocket. 

Sirius was running around and asking people if they were doing alright and if they were almost ready. He told Daisuke, Takeru, and Ken what to do in case of an emergency, and he gave them a message to give to anyone who might call while they were gone. 

As Sirius was passing by them, barking orders, Cyrus reached out and grabbed hold of his shoulder. Sirius paused and turned towards him, and Cyrus slugged him across the left side of his face. Matt, Daisuke, Takeru, and Ken gawked at them, and then Sirius rubbed his face and said, "Thanks, I needed that." Remus grinned, already used to this type of behavior from them.

Daisuke had been staring at Remus for a while, and then he suddenly pointed at him and screamed, "A-ha!"

Remus turned to raise an eyebrow at him.

"You look exactly like the blonde version of me! Sirius looks like the black-haired version of Matt, and Cyrus looks...actually, Cyrus looks like the black-haired version of Takeru, but whatever."

Remus laughed. "And you've just now realized that?"

Sirius clapped his hands. "Okay, people, let's move out."

They all scrambled for the door, awkwardly shoving guns and knives into pockets and holsters. They assembled outside in a single file, and Sirius walked around them to the front and turned to face them.

"We're on a mission. We are on a mission...to save...Tai. Saving...Tai...is our mission. Ah...I think you got the message."

They all stared at him oddly. Sirius was just plain weird sometimes.

"And I have one last thing to say to you all...please try not to die? If you die...that would, like, suck. Yeah, it would suck lots. Well, I think that's it. Let's *really* move out!"

And with that pep talk out of the way, he turned and began walking off. They all stood there, shifting from foot to foot, and then they began to walk after him. Matt turned to Daisuke and Daisuke instinctively reached out and grabbed his hands. Matt smiled in reassurance and pressed his forehead against the redhead's. Daisuke closed his eyes, exhaled, and then opened them, and Matt could see he was holding back tears. Matt leant forward and kissed him softly, lingering for a while before pulling away.

Daisuke narrowed his eyes slightly. "Go get Taichi and bring him back here."

Matt laughed slightly to himself. Daisuke sounded adorable when he was being commanding and pouty. 

"Sir, yes sir!" 

"MATT!! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!!"

"Coming!" Matt planted a last kiss on Daisuke's lips and then backed away, still facing him, walking backwards. 

"Matt!"

"I'll come back with Tai soon."

"Ma~att!"

"Remember your promise of a threesome."

"Oh, believe me, I will..."

Matt blew a kiss to Daisuke, who waved eagerly. He then waved to Takeru and Ken, who waved back enthusiastically. He turned and ran over to where Sirius was standing, cross-armed, tapping his foot exaggeratedly. 

"God, Sirius, you're so bitchy."

"Matt!"

"What?"

"I don't know, I like to scream your name at you."

"That sounded really, really weird."

"Pervy pervy pervert!"

Sirius smirked as Matt stuck his tongue out, and then stuck his own tongue out back at him. Remus looked back over his shoulder, saw the two leaders having a tongue-sticking-out-contest, and smacked his forehead. He suddenly realized that Daisuke was right. Sirius and Matt *did* look like twins that got tired of looking identical, so one dyed his hair.

They were such strong, handsome, mature leaders...

Eh, one out of three isn't that bad.

~ ~ ~ ~

"I'm tired. I'm hungry. I need to go to the bathroom. Are we there yet?"

Sirius whacked Ikarus on the head, and the young, green-eyed blonde stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes. 

"That wasn't very nice," he said.

Sirius gave him a dry look and then looked forward. He suddenly spotted something on the horizon and pointed, his arm whacking the back of Cyrus's head in the process. 

"Look, there's the safe house! Ne...sorry, Cy."

Grumble, grumble, rub, rubbing his head, and then Cyrus looked up unenthusiastically at what looked like a treehouse. He gawked at it. 

"THAT'S the safe house?!"

"Shibby, isn't it?"

"Shibby? Shibby?! What the hell kind of a word is that?!"

"Our word!" Sirius and Ikarus chimed.

Remus, Cyrus, and the rest of the company stared from Sirius and Ikarus to the treehouse, and then back to their supposedly great leader and the oddball standing next to him. They let out a collective sigh and trudged to the treehouse.

"I hope we all fit in it."

~ ~ ~ ~

Luckily, the company *did* fit inside of the treehouse. As soon as Cyrus climbed up the rope ladder and saw his first glance around the inside of the treehouse, he was surprised at how roomy it actually was. There was enough room to fit chairs for all of them around a long table.

"How-"

"Just a bit of magic, by the help of a 'connection' here in the Northside."

"We have connections?"

"Yes, we have connections. What, did you think I'd lead you all over here with no idea how we were going to protect a treehouse from the rest of the town? Wait, don't answer that. Anyways, the exterior of the treehouse looks small, yes, but it's actually quite a deal larger than it appears."

Remus and Cyrus raised eyebrows, skeptical, but nonetheless impressed at Sirius's use of a 'connection' that knew such magic.

"And you forgot to mention to *us*, your mates, who are practically assistant leaders in this, about any sort of 'connection'?"

"Oh, yeah. Um...surprise?"

"Exactly *what* type of 'connection' are we talking about here?" Sora asked suspiciously, crossing her arms.

"What type of...uh...well, that doesn't matter. What matters now is waiting for ten, right? Right, so let's get ready." 

Sirius automatically volunteered first watch and sat on a chair next to a window in the treehouse (of course, there wasn't actually any glass, just a sort of hole in the wall), staring out at the surroundings, keeping an eye on the clock.

The rest of them all took chairs and double-checked on plans and looked over their weapons. 

"Who's going to search with who?"

"I got Matt," Sirius said automatically from his post, and he looked at Matt as if to make sure that was okay. He smiled at Matt, and Matt fought back a blush as he nodded in agreement.

"Well, I'm going to go with Remus," Cyrus said, looking towards the spiky-haired blonde sitting next to him. Remus smiled affectionately at his mate. They all knew why the two would have to go together. Cyrus had to protect Remus, and Remus had to keep Cyrus in check and help come up with strategies if anything went wrong. 

"I'll go with Iori," Jyou volunteered. The young brunette sitting at his left nodded. Both were the only ones present who were mateless, though they were good friends.

"I'm going with Sora, since she's my bitch," Ikarus said, as if tired. He looked at his mate, grinning slowly, and she rolled her eyes at him. She tutted and slapped his arm, but she blushed ever so slightly.

"Right, so it's settled," Sirius concluded. He looked out the "window" again, and Matt slumped down in his chair. Now for the wait. He sighed loudly and leant his head back against the back of the chair, blowing at his hair when it fell over his face.

~ ~ ~ ~

Around twenty minutes later, Iori gently shook Matt's shoulder. Matt cracked an eye open to look at him and Iori smiled.

"It's time to go," he whispered, and Matt glanced out the hole in the wall and saw it was already rather dark outside, except for the glowing face of the clock, which showed 10:05. He wondered how he had slept through the clock's ringing ten times.

He leapt to his feet, checked his pockets to make sure all of his weapons were in place, and then followed the group making it's way down through the entrance in the floor. He crept along the floorboards, hunched over on all fours, like the rest of them, and then dropped through the hole on the floor. He instantly crept to a bush, and rested beside Sirius. Sirius turned to look at him and flashed him a grin.

He raised his eyebrows, as if to ask, "Ready?"

Matt nodded, and then looked forward again. He heard Sirius whisper, "Go!", and all of a sudden they were parts of the shadows, dashing along under cover of night, along the dark alleyways.

He made sure to follow Sirius closely, never keeping him out of his sight, while at the same time looking around for any sign of Tai.

He checked for any places Tai might be hiding, looking around corners and in boxes and even in trash cans. In one brief moment of stupidity, he looked *under* a trash can, but then realized that there was no way Tai could hide under there, as he would have to be as flat as a pancake. He gladly noted that Sirius hadn't seen him looking under the trash can, and set it back down noiselessly, moving on with the search.

They cleared two alleyways when Matt suddenly bumped into something that felt like another body, one he knew wasn't Sirius because Sirius had dropped behind to check a joint alleyway. Matt instantly tensed, falling back, feeling his muscles tighten in anticipation. He didn't know whether to act vicious towards this stranger, like he imagined a Fang would act even to a familiar face when encountering someone in an alleyway at night, or to remain calm and try to blend in, as if he was familiar with this alleyway and knew what he was doing and where he was going.

The figure spun around and growled deeply at him. This was a male, and an adult male, at that. Judging from the deep, subterranean growl and the size of the shadow the figure was casting, it was a large, strong adult male, also. Matt fought the urge to gulp.

"Who are you?" the figure growled. 

Matt's mind raced. Should he lie, or tell the truth, or make up a name, or not answer at all? Matt decided to take the last course of action and remained silent, fighting to keep his head, looking for a way out.

When Matt didn't reply, the figure growled a bit deeper and stepped towards him. Luckily, Sirius chose that moment to return, and made himself known with a question.

"I believe the question is: Who are *you*?" Sirius asked evenly, cocking an eyebrow and leaning against Matt slightly.

The figure jumped slightly, not having noticed Sirius creeping up. He looked at the newcomer and looked him over suspiciously.

"What's it to you?"

"Well, what's it to you who *we* are?" Sirius countered.

"This is my alleyway."

"Ah, I don't see your name on it."

The figure laughed coldly. "That's an old insult. Can't you think of anything better?"

"Can't you?"

"What do you mean?"

"This is *my* alleyway, blah blah, whine whine. If it's yours, then why don't you protect it better? How'd we get here in the first place, if it's *your* alleyway? If it really was, shouldn't you have it protected or marked off or something? You should at least get a warning, so you wouldn't have any intruders. Or, is it a trap, perhaps? Do you *make* people want to come onto your alleyway and then jump out of the shadows with some bull about owning the alley? Do you secretly *want* intruders, so you could scare them off, or boast about the alley, to feed your ego, even though the alley smells like crap?"

The figure had stepped closer, and Matt could make out his features now. He was definitely an adult male, with blonde hair that was so light it looked white in the light cast from a street lamp a few feet away. He looked puzzled.

"What?"

"If you couldn't even follow my train of thought, or speech, whichever you prefer, then you mustn't be very bright, are you? Do you think you're up to the responsibility of owning an alleyway, all by yourself? Shouldn't you take baby steps? Shouldn't you start off by owning, maybe, that street lamp over there? You could piss all over that thing all night if you wanted, but you couldn't very well constantly piss all over the alleyway. Or have you?"

"What?" he asked again, sounding more unsure of himself.

"Have you pissed all over the street?"

"No..."

"Then you don't own it, do you?"

The figure stared at him. Sirius smirked. Matt was bewildered. He had just seen Sirius slowly but surely confuse the poor brute until he didn't even know how to talk tough to him anymore.

"Well, if you don't own it, will you let us go?"

He slowly nodded, and Sirius walked past him and along the alley. Matt rushed after Sirius and cast a last glance back at the man they were leaving behind. He was scratching his head and going over the conversation in his head, trying to figure out where he got lost and what was wrong about that exchange of words.

"How did you do that?" Matt asked in wonderment once they were a good distance away from the man.

Sirius looked at him and smirked. "What, confuse him? Oh, anyone can confuse a person. It's easy. Just let them start off and question everything that they say. Then you just...well...wing it."

"Wing it? That's what you did back there? You winged it, and got us out of a beating?"  


Sirius shrugged. "Pretty much."

Matt shook his head. "No wonder you got chosen to govern the Southside."

Sirius laughed and patted Matt's head. "You'll be able to do that effortlessly someday, dear boy. Don't you worry."

Sirius suddenly stopped smiling and went serious again, searching about for Tai with intense blue eyes. Matt went back to looking as well. 

When they turned the corner to go into the next alleyway, two new figures collided with them. Matt fought the urge to groan out loud at running into not one, but two new guys, but then he realized that they were Jyou and Iori. The two panted for breath and Jyou lifted his head to speak.

"We've found Taichi," he said breathlessly. Matt's heart leapt into his throat. Found...Tai? 

"Where?!" he asked frantically. Is he alive? he almost added, but didn't, afraid of the answer, and how white and stricken the two looked.

"We'll lead you to the house; there's no time to explain," Jyou finished, and suddenly there were running as fast as their legs could carry them, out of that alleyway, cutting across to another, weaving around corners. Finally, they got out of the maze of alleys and into an open space that separated the alleys from the rows of houses, and Matt realized Tai was in one of these houses. Had he been found out by the Fangs? Is that why Jyou sounded scared?

What he found was not what he expected. No, Taichi wasn't dead. Not yet, at least. They stopped in front of a large, broken down house. The house had many people inside. They recognized some of the screams as their own friends, and others unmistakably as Fangs. The screams weren't what frightened Matt the most. What frightened Matt the most was the fact that the house, which already looked about to collapse, was engulfed in flames.


	6. And I Would Give Up Forever For You

A/N: I've just realized...that I started out with Sirius, Cyrus, and Rufus...and now I have Sirius, Remus, and Cyrus. Um. How did that happen? Okay, let me get this straight: Sirius = the leader, Remus = the nice, errand-boy one, Cyrus = the violent one. Yeah, sorry about that. I wrote this entire chapter out and then I realized that they weren't the same...and I did it in the last chapter, too. Sorry for any confusion, I know I made Cyrus two different people, but it's fixed now, right? O.o' Anyways, I hope you like this *last* chapter of SV! Yup, it's the last chapter. Well, I hope you guys like. R/R!

And I Would Give Up Forever For You

The flames leapt higher and higher, and Matt was half-afraid of entering when the house clearly wasn't built to withstand such harsh treatment, but the thought of Taichi trapped within its fiery walls drove him on, and he found himself charging down the lawn along with Sirius, Joe, and Iori. They dashed into the house and Matt quickly took in the sights.

He saw the faces of the elders, all much changed now, all humor and happiness having been sucked from their expressions. They were illuminated with an orange glow, from the reflection of the flames, and he'd never seen them so furious in all of his life. He was used to the elders that gathered the young ones for dancing around a bonfire until sunrise, summoned the adults for wild parties that only they could throw perfectly, and yet remain respected, wise, fair, and even mature, when they had to be.

The people he saw fighting in the name of their town, and not for a child they must look after, but for a friend, suddenly appeared older than their usual late teens-early twenties appearances. He felt so much younger and less experienced compared to these strong, brave people, but then he remembered where he was and ran forward to help them fight the enemy.

He was automatically attacked by a smaller, younger-looking vampire, who he quickly knocked down with a fierce uppercut that snapped his head back so hard that Matt heard a crack. As he fought, he kept an eye out for the elders, though he didn't think they'd be needing any help.

He saw a glimpse of Ikarus, pummeling his fists into a Fang male's stomach, grinning in triumph despite the blood running down his face from a gash on his forehead. He saw Remus, surprisingly untouched, but he noticed that, while Remus wasn't strong or muscular, he was thin and wiry, making him very agile. He easily dodged punches and tired his enemy out, and sometimes he even did things that Matt only ever saw in cartoons when he was younger - such as duck while two were throwing punches, making the two hit each other instead of him. He would have laughed, had he been in a different situation. He didn't need to check on Cyrus - no doubt, he was taking on two or three at a time, and beating their heads into the cement hard enough to leave a permanent dent. Jyou and Iori were back-to-back, fighting two at a time, a good team. 

He looked towards the corner and he almost faltered in his steps. There was Sora, standing over a body lying on the floor, protecting it. He recognized the body immediately. It was Taichi, and he wasn't moving. He beat the person he was fighting at the moment and made his way towards her. She saw him coming and moved aside to let him stand beside her. Matt was a bit afraid to look at Taichi - what if he was burned? He chanced a glance. No, Taichi wasn't burned, but his shirt was very bloody, like he had a chest wound. 

Matt instantly was filled with fury. They had hurt his mate. No one was allowed to touch his mate and get away with it. He turned on the Fangs, heard himself yell a sort of battle cry, and leapt onto the nearest Fang. Unfortunately, this particular Fang was huge. He was easily thrown off and the Fang began beating on him. He lay on the floor and absorbed the punches. He tried to get a punch in when he saw a weakness, but there weren't many. He gasped for breath and coughed, and warm liquid spurted out of his mouth. Suddenly, the weight was removed from his chest, and he was forcefully dragged to his feet. His vision cleared and he saw Sirius, standing with one arm around him and one out, ready to defend from an attack.

Sirius looked at him. "You alright?"

Matt nodded and wiped his mouth. He looked at his arm, and saw it was streaked with red. He wiped his mouth again, in surprise, and looked at his bloody fingers. 

"You had better hope they didn't knock a tooth loose," Sirius told him, smirking, and then Sirius let him go and turned back to a fighting stance. 

Matt watched as, just before his eyes, Sirius scissors-kicked a guy in the jaw and the guy's head snapped back with a sickening crunch and fell backwards onto the floor, immobilized. 'Whoa,' Matt thought, 'that was fucking cool.'

He snapped out of it when he saw the flash of silver. A Fang was approaching fast, a knife clutched tightly in his fist. Matt felt his blood run cold. A silver knife. If that thing ran into his heart...he'd die instantly.

Sirius saw it, also, and quickly moved in front of Matt. The Fang pounced onto him and Sirius kicked backwards, sending Matt flying against the wall. Matt shook his head, dizzily wondering why Sirius kicked him, but then he realized Sirius didn't want him anywhere in stabbing range, and he felt a surge of warmth towards the elder. He was always looking out for him, always protecting him...why?

The Fang descended on Sirius and the black-haired beauty stood ready, feet planted apart, holding his fists up, and extending two fingers. He crooked the fingers towards himself, as if saying, "Bring it on."

Sirius reached up and grabbed a hold of the Fang's arms, holding them back. He brought his knee up, aiming for the Fang's groin, but the Fang saw his move and leapt backwards. Before Matt could even blink, the Fang hurled himself forward and seemed to hug Sirius with one arm. Sirius frantically tried to wrestle himself free without too much struggle, fearing that knife, but suddenly Sirius stopped moving and stood stone still, lifting his head up to look over the Fang's shoulder. 

Matt felt his heart stop first, and then the cold-sickness washing over his body. He watched as the Fang seemed to need effort to pulled back away from Sirius, and a gout of blood spilled onto the floor as Sirius automatically fell to his knees. Matt screamed something unintelligible and ran forward. 

The rest of the elders seemed to have known what had just happened and Matt found himself dropping to the floor beside Sirius along with Remus and Cyrus as Ikarus, Jyou, and Iori gathered in a circle around them to protect them. Matt watched helplessly as Remus frantically yanked his shirt off and tried to tie it tightly around Sirius's middle. Matt saw a glimpse of a sort of deep gash in the center of Sirius's chest - it wasn't in the heart, but it was dangerously close. Remus and Cyrus helped Sirius to his feet just as a piece of the flaming timber above their heads crashed onto the floor beside them, crushing a Fang under it. 

"We've got to get out of here!" Remus yelled, and he began making his way towards the door. Matt noticed that all of the Fangs had already gotten the hell out of there, fearing the building's collapse, and he ran to Sora's side to help her carry Taichi. They got out of the house just as the roof caved in, and then they set off at a dead run to the safe house. 

They only stayed there for a while, because Sirius urged them to continue on to home, not wanting to stay the night in enemy territory. They automatically saw the point in that, knowing that someone could have seen them running back towards the safe house, and they began the trip back home.

~ ~ ~ ~

Daisuke stood outside, shifting from foot to foot apprehensively. He knew that they would be returning soon - he could feel it - and Takeru and Ken had been going back inside and coming back outside again and again for the past half hour. 

He paused, stopping his movements, and he peered out in the darkness and thought he saw figures moving in the distance. He continued to watch for a moment more to confirm it, and then took off running towards the figures, knowing it was them. Takeru and Ken saw him take off and ran after him, both smiling widely at seeing them returning okay. Their smiles wavered after a while, though - one of them was being carried in the arms of another, and another was limping weakly, held up by two others.

They ran faster, and soon they could make out the figures to be their friends. Daisuke froze in his steps and gasped. He watched as Matt slowly walked towards him, carrying Taichi in his arms. 

Soon, Matt was standing before Daisuke, with Taichi held suspended in between them. Daisuke reached up and gently ran his fingertips down the side of Taichi's face, and he felt his eyes tear up. 

"Is he...?"

"No, he's still alive, but barely. We have to get him into the house and in bed, to rest."

Daisuke nodded and looked towards the others, and gasped yet again when he saw Sirius being held up by Remus and Cyrus, who looked stricken and helpless, which was awfully bad for Cyrus.

He followed them all inside and they went to the second floor of the office, where Sirius, Remus, and Cyrus all lived. They lay Taichi in the guest bed and helped Sirius get settled in his own bed. 

Jyou, who had been studying to be a doctor before he became a vampire, took a look at both Sirius's and Taichi's chest wounds, and found that Taichi hadn't been stabbed, only cut, and he'd been knocked out from being beaten so savagely and losing too much blood. Sirius, however, was stabbed, and stabbed deeply. Jyou said that since he didn't know what type of silver the knife was made of, he couldn't say what would happen to Sirius, or how bad it was. He said that if it was plain silver, then Sirius would heal, though over time, and he'd always have a scar, but if it was bewitched, or a special type of silver, then he could be poisoned.

The news was unsettling, but at least they now knew what to expect, and they set about getting as much blood for Taichi as they could gather, since he had lost a good deal more blood than Sirius had. Sirius kept losing and regaining consciousness, but, being the stubborn person he was, always refused "being babied", as he called it.

Eventually, he allowed Remus to feed him, after failing many attempts at holding the spoon steady and not dropping the food all over his face, pillow, neck, or chest. Taichi was hooked up to a machine that was giving him blood, and Daisuke and Matt stayed by his side when they weren't running errands or visiting Sirius or Koushirou, who demanded updates on what was going on all the time.

Koushirou was overjoyed at the news of Taichi's return, though dismayed at the fact that both Taichi and Sirius were wounded and in bed. 

"Bed just isn't the place for tough guys like them," he'd said to them.

One afternoon, Matt was sitting in the bathroom, looking at Taichi, who was laying propped up in the bathtub. He had been washing the dried blood and dirt out of Taichi's hair and off of his skin, and now Taichi was soaking in fresh, clean water, because Ikarus had said it would do him good to get himself hydrated again, or something like that.

Matt lowered his gaze to his hands, which were playing with a piece of string he'd found on the table. Lately, his hands had been restless. Taichi had been knocked out for the past five days, and Sirius was showing no sign of recovery.

He sighed, not in defeat, but from how tired he was. He'd been under a lot of stress ever since the night Taichi had fled, and even Taichi being safe and sound back home with him didn't seem to calm Matt's nerves. He felt a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he thought idly if perhaps the feeling was foreshadowing something bad that might happen soon. He hoped he was wrong.

Suddenly, he heard the sounds of the water being swished around, and he looked up to see Taichi sitting up straight and opening his eyes slightly.

He leapt to his feet. "Taichi?!"

"Matt...turn the light off."

Matt immediately turned around and flicked the light switch off, and then whirled around again, walking to his lover's side and bending down so he could be level with Taichi. 

"Tai, how do you feel?"

"I'm...starving."

Matt sprinted to the door and stuck his head out.

"Hey, he's awake! Tai's awake! Oh, he's hungry, get something!"

He heard something that sounded like a chair falling over and doors flew open. Daisuke sprinted down the hall, arms waving wildly, and a huge, genuine, excited grin on his face that Matt hadn't seen in a long time.

Daisuke turned into the room and ran to Taichi. 

"Tai! You're awake! Oh, man, Tai, I've been so worried, we all have-"

"We?" Tai asked groggily, staring at Daisuke as if he was insane. "What are you talking about? Where am I? What happened? And why am I in a freaking bathtub?"

Daisuke hugged Taichi tightly. "You ran away, Tai. Remember that?"

Something flickered in Tai's eyes and he looked at Daisuke, staring at him. 

"Oh...the house. I stayed in the house, but then some Fangs ran in and started attacking me, and they were too many for me to fight alone. I think one of them set fire to the house..." He looked around. "Is this the house?"

"No, this is Sirius's house. You know, the second floor of the office?"

Ikarus waited until Daisuke and Matt had walked Tai to the guest bedroom and laid him down, and then set a pitcher of blood on Taichi's lap.

"Don't you dare chug it," he warned the brunette, who grinned back and began sipping at the warm, thick liquid.

Daisuke sat down with Tai to fill him in about everything that had happened, after he was knocked out, and helping Tai fill in any blank parts that he couldn't remember.

Matt went to go visit Sirius in his room, and Sirius asked Remus and Cyrus to leave them alone, since he'd been meaning to tell Matt something.

Matt pulled a chair up to Sirius's bedside, and leant in to listen to him.

"Tai's awake?"

He nodded, and Sirius smiled. "Good. I was worrying, but I knew he'd make it through."

Matt smiled and rubbed his arm, staring at the floor. "Hey, um, thanks."

Sirius smiled even wider, knowing what Matt meant. Matt went on, "For everything. Saving my life, helping me get Tai back, always being there to give advice and listen to me..."

"No problemo," Sirius responded, but it didn't sound like Sirius anymore. His voice was weaker, and more frail. In fact, it wasn't much more than a whisper.

"I've been meaning to tell you about something that happened to us, a long time ago. Us meaning Remus, Cyrus, and I, that is. When we were younger, Cyrus ran away from *our* very first leader-choosing-procession thingy. You know, someone should name those things. Anyways, we didn't see him for two whole months, but when we did, we were closer than ever."

Sirius laughed a bit at Matt's wide eyes and shocked expression. "Cy ran away from you guys, too?"

"Yes, but he came back. We didn't go looking for him because he'd be pissed off at us if we did, and besides, we had faith in him. We knew he'd come back on his own; just needed to have some free time to himself. We redid the procession, and this time, no one ran away." Sirius laughed slightly.

They remained silent for awhile, and then Sirius smiled warmly and reached out to touch Matt's hand. He found a grip on Matt's hand, and Matt gripped back, though gently, and looked straight at Sirius, sensing it was imperative to listen to what he had to say next.

"Taichi totally respects you as a leader, you know, Matt. I could sense it, even while he was feral, and these past few nights, he'd been going through hell willing himself not to run back to you. He loves both you and Daisuke more than anything in the world." Sirius tilted his head to the side slightly and smirked to himself. "But, then again, who wouldn't? You're a great person, Matt, and I think you're the best leader I've seen in the past thousand years. Tai'd have to be blind and deaf not to love you, Matt, and even then, I'm sure your touch would move him."

Matt blushed a good deal and lowered his head to try and hide it. "Thanks," he mumbled, knowing it was a very weak response to something so great. Sirius seemed to accept it, though, the way he accepted everyone and everything. 

"Matt?"

He glanced up at Sirius, who looked more serious now. 

"I'd love for you to succeed me in ruling the Southside."

Matt's eyes widened. He pointed at himself. "Who, me? Are you kidding? Me, take your place? You have awfully huge shoes to fill, Sirius."

"I think you could handle it," Sirius said confidently, and smirked. "Dai could fill in for Remus, and I'm sure it would be Tai's pleasure to take Cyrus's job."

"Thank you so, so much," Matt said, feeling, yet again, that it wasn't a worthy response for everything Sirius was doing, had done, for him. 

He was surprised to feel tears sliding down his cheeks. "You do too much for me," he shakingly accused Sirius. 

Sirius laughed again, and his eyes shone with that mirth and fire that never left him. 

"No, Matt. I don't do enough for you."

Matt shook his head in wonderment at this amazing, gorgeous person, and forgot all about how weak he was now. He'd never dare to think of Sirius as weak ever again. He hugged Sirius hard, and Sirius hugged back, smiling to himself. 

Matt couldn't help but thinking Remus and Cyrus had to be the luckiest guys in the world. He'd always felt that Sirius was special, and that he was very lucky to have known him and met him in his lifetime. 

~ ~ ~ ~

Tai was up and walking about normally in a few days. Soon, Cyrus was busy training Taichi to take his place, knowing that it wouldn't be long until the day came. Remus, Dai, and Matt spent their time in Sirius's room, sitting on his bed and talking to him, telling stories and jokes that had them keeling over in laughter. 

They tried to ignore the fact that during his last checkup with Jyou, Sirius had shown signs of growing weaker, and they feared that Sirius might be poisoned. They hadn't told Sirius, having decided not to frighten him, but Matt knew that Sirius already knew. He saw it in his eyes when he looked into them. Sirius always knew the truth; it was pointless to lie to him, even if you weren't actually telling him a lie to his face. There was no hiding from Sirius. He was just way too damn perceptive of so many things that no one else noticed.

~ ~ ~ ~

Exactly two weeks after they had returned home, Sirius died. His heart stopped, and Jyou guessed that the poison had spread and gotten to it through his bloodstream. It had taken a bit longer because Sirius was a vampire, and therefore had a much better immune system, but in the end, Sirius still died.

Matt couldn't help but feel it was unfair that Sirius had to die. He stared out the window, watching Remus and Cyrus, with grave faces, digging in the backyard. They were going to give him a proper funeral, but Remus and Cyrus had insisted on digging the grave themselves. 

As Matt pondered the person he'd known his entire life as the leader of the town, the one he could always turn to, and the great person that everyone respected and admired, he realized something that he should have known all along, but still shocked him when he thought about it. Sirius died saving *him*. If it weren't for Sirius pushing him back and fighting the Fang for him, Matt might have been the dead one. Matt wept all over again at that thought, even though he knew Sirius would hate it if Matt, or anyone else, had mourned his death. 

He remembered all of the wonderful, smart, funny, and awe-inspiring things that Sirius had said to him or others.

__

~No problemo.~

Matt watched as Remus and Cyrus finally stopped digging and trudged back inside, and he slowly turned around to look at Sirius's bed. Soon, he'd be sleeping in that same bed, since he, Dai, and Tai would have to move into the office building to take their positions. Remus and Cyrus, having lost their leader, couldn't be in office anymore, and they were going to move away to find a new life together. 

~_Shibby, isn't it?~_

Matt got to his feet and began walking out of the room and down the hall. The funeral would start soon. They were using a part of the office, not wanting to go anywhere near a funeral home, since the humans would freak out over certain aspects that would tell of a person's vampirism, such as the fact that their skins turns a white color. Literally white. Like the walls were, now that all of the pictures of Sirius, Remus, and Cyrus had been taken down for the move.

~_Taichi totally respects you as a leader, you know, Matt_.~

Matt walked into the room where a large group of people were gathered, sitting in rows of chairs, and Sirius was laying in a cherry casket with a ruby satin lining. Matt leant against the doorway and stared at the man in the casket, and he realized just how young he looked. Sirius could pass for a nineteen-year-old if he wished, and some people might think of him as twenty-one, while others might think of him as seventeen. He had that sort of look about him that never quite revealed his real age.

He walked down the aisle and knelt before the casket, staring down at the soft, pale face. He resisted the urge to open the eyes and take one last long look into the sea of deep blue that he would find there. He ran a hand through the silky black hair and trailed a finger down the strong jaw, and then leant down to rest his head on the chest. 

~_You're a great person, Matt, and I think you're the best leader I've seen in the past thousand years_.~

They stood outside for the funeral. Matt half-expected it to start raining like in the movies and stories. It didn't rain, though. They stood outside around the grave and stared at the tombstone that Sora had spent the entire day carving. It looked beautiful. It was round at the top, medium-height, and had a beautiful looking angel's face and wings carved into the top, above his name and the date he was born and the day he died. Matt couldn't help but feel it was a bit ironic to have an angel on a vampire's headstone, but, thinking of Sirius and how much like an angel he himself seemed, he thought it fit perfectly.

~_Tai'd have to be blind and deaf not to love you, Matt, and even then, I'm sure your touch would move him_.~

Remus sobbed his heart out at the funeral, and it hurt Matt's ears to hear it. It wasn't that it was high-pitched, just that it sounded so sorrowful that you could almost feel the pain that was probably wracking Remus at the moment. Cyrus, who had never been one to show his feelings or weaknesses, had his arms crossed tightly and was hugging himself, staring at the grave through scrunched eyes that never ran out of tears, and he kept hiccupping. Ikarus and Sora were hugging each other like their lives depended on it, Ikarus staring at the grave with red, puffy eyes and a sort of rosy-cheeked pout, and Sora was crying in his arms, silently. Tai was hugging Daisuke tightly to his chest and they were both tearing a bit at the eyes, but neither had ever had the chance to be as close to Sirius as Matt had been. Matt, on the other hand, had sobbed all the previous night and morning, and now he merely had tears running down his face. He had tried to hold them back, knowing that Sirius wouldn't want to see tears, but he couldn't help it.

~_No, Matt. I don't do enough for you.~_

But he did. He did so much for Matt that he couldn't help but feel that he owed Sirius so much, and he felt a wave of sadness wash over him, knowing that he'd never be given the chance to pay Sirius back for everything that he had done. Every smile, every encouraging word, and every time his eyes lit up when he looked his way. Sirius had done more for him than anyone had in his life, and Matt would be eternally grateful. Sirius did everything he possibly could for Matt, Remus, Cyrus, and everyone he met, and expected nothing in return, and Matt knew how rare it was to find a genuine person like that. He knew he had to live up to Sirius's name, and he didn't think he'd be able to do it, but he felt a surge of pride at being chosen by Sirius to succeed him. He may not be as good as Sirius as a leader, but he'd try his very best to govern the Southside as well as Sirius would want him to.

Matt pulled a white flower from out of his pocket and gently tossed it onto Sirius's grave, and then he followed everyone else back inside the building. Sirius was gone, but there was something that Matt could save. He would slowly, but surely, take off where Sirius had left, saving the Southside from the Fangs, from cruelty, and keeping them from becoming as violent as the Northside. He would save the town, little by little, by keeping its inhabitants safe.

Just the way Sirius sacrificed his life for Matt, Matt would sacrifice his life for the next generation of elders. Someday, he was going to meet the one to succeed him, and someday, he was going to shower him with the attention Sirius gave him, and leave an impact on that kid's life, the way Sirius left an impact on Matt's, but for now, he was content to just wait for that day, take things one step at a time, the way Sirius himself did when he was just starting out.

~ ~ ~ ~  


A/N: Whee! Okay, Southside Vampires is done. Uh...wow. I hope I don't get flamed by people who liked Sirius. Eh, but it did make the fic a bit better, didn't it? Well, I'm happy with the way it came out...so you all should be, too! So, review and tell me what you thought of this chapter, or, if you like, what you thought of the whole entire fic. I'll see you guys later! Hugs and kisses! ^-~

Ikky: Just glad you didn't kill me...

Yeah I thought of you dying instead of Sirius...but it would have made a better impact if Sirius died. BTW, people, in case you care, Ikarus was modeled after Ikky, my muse...(that's Ikky's real name). 

Ikky: Gwah! O.o' Review, people, review.


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